Shinigami Shuffle
by Manatheron
Summary: Death Comes to everyone, Some of us are simply better at avoiding his call. (Reboot of 'Redemption of the fallen')
1. It Begins again

It began with a slight lul in the constant sounds of battle that had permeated the clearing for the last hour. There was a feeling in the moment, a touch of destiny. For a second, the future was poised on the edge of a blade, and then two powers collided. The result was a horrifying screeching wail, a cold chilling tone that seemed to etch into the very fabric of creation as the Rasengan and Chidori collided. The power unleashed by the two meeting was enough to cause the river that Naruto and Sasuke were standing on spin, whirling ever faster, much as though they were the center of a vortex in the water. Both knew that this was their first true fight. neither held back any longer as they could both feel that for one of them at least, it would be their last. Although he would never admit it, Naruto was afraid of the cursed seal placed on Sasuke. He had seen what the curse could allow a human to do. Kyuubi had wanted to challenge its power, angry that anyone would try to match the power previously wielded by only the Bijju themselves. Sasuke hadn't cared either way, pulling forth the power of the first level without thought. He could feel his body tiring however, and with an effort began the transformation into the second level of his cursed state.

Naruto, tired and sore from his earlier fights could to feel the power of the Chidori increase, slowly pushing him back as he tried to call upon more of his flagging chakra reserves. Within his mind the Kyuubi raged, trying to force his chakra into the boy's system. Naruto was firm however, this was to be his fight, and he had sworn to himself that he wouldn't touch the Bijju's power unless he had no other choice. Sadly it was approaching that time. Although he had tried to halt the backward trend, Naruto had simply reached his limit. It wasn't long before he was completely overwhelmed, as struggle as he might, he could feel his Rasengan weakening. Its outer shell of chakra crackling, as it came closer and closer to falling apart. When it finally broke, the explosion sent both combatants flying toward opposing canyon walls. Naruto's impact was swift and brutal and after a few seconds he fell forward leaving of a six inch imprint and a long series of cracks spiderwebbed across the canyon wall.

Sasuke on the other hand, was standing on the water watching his friend struggle, seemingly unharmed. As Naruto's vision began to darken, he realized that without help he was going to die. With a deep sigh of regret, he closed his eyes and focused inward. When he opened them again, he was in a tunnel. He recognized it as the one leading the seal that held the kyuubi. Walking down the eerily silent corridor he came upon a sight he would never forget.

* * *

The Kyuubi Snarled, chains led from the surrounding cage, ending in brightly shining Manacles that held it fast. Even as Naruto watched another detached it's self and formed a collar for the great beast. As naruto sucked in a surprised breath the Kyuubi's massive muzzle swung around, and dark evil eyes seemed to bore into Naruto's soul.

"**Come at last have you? To late you insignificant Ant! I've already done what I intended to. If I must die then I will die in a manner befitting one of the greater Youma! I shall die fighting! Not caged like a drowning rat. Remember this Uzumaki, Stare deeply, Etch this memory into your puny and pathetic mind, for THIS is the death of GODLING!"**

Naruto's eyes widened in shock as the Kyuubi began glowing with an unholy Brackish Red light. The chains that had bound him went taught for a moment before glowing with the same malevolent light and then melting to slag. Freed the Kyuubi walked toward the bars that separated him from his Warden. Glaring balefully at a now terrified Naruto he stepped up to them and then, Passed straight through them, burning the seal to ash in the process. Naruto, though shocked, prepared to defend himself, and the Kyuubi laughed as the young human fell into a rather sloppy version of basic TaiJutsu.

Closing his massive eyes to half lidded, Kyuubi considered the amount of power flowing though him and how long he had left.

_**Just enough time.**_

With a cruel smirk The Kyuubi's massive body morphed down, taking the form of a human similar in build to Naruto.

"**Step aside worm, lest I leave you for the crows."**

Snarling Naruto spat out a single word

"Never."

With that Naruto charged, coming in with all the speed he could muster he attempted a kick to the Kyuubi's head. The fox however dodged, and Naruto followed it up with a leg sweep. Contemptuously Kyuubi took half a step back. Undeterred Naruto came at him with fists, knees, and elbows. Kyuubi dodged or blocked everything Naruto threw at him with growing impatience and obvious boredom. Panting Naruto fell back, and lazily Kyuubi raised an eyebrow.

"**Is that it?"**

The taunting snapped something in Naruto's mind, without thinking about the consequences, without considering his fatigue, Naruto flashed though hand symbols and screamed

"Katon: GRAND FIREBALL"

Kyuubi's eyes widened dramatically and he stumbled half a step back as the fireball enveloped him. Naruto's satisfaction was nearly palpable as he listened to the great beasts cries of pain and screams for mercy from the center of the inferno. Said satisfaction was rather short lived however, because as the flames cleared Naruto could see the Kyuubi reclining on the floor, completely unharmed. Locking eyes with him The Kyuubi taunted

"**Oh no! Not fire! It burns! Oh how it burns... Oh wait. That's right. It involves chakra, something I have an unlimited supply of and can use to heal myself. Oh deary me, whatever shall I do."**

Naruto glowered as the Kyuubi stood up and dusted himself off.

"**If you're quite done."**

Yelling his defiance Naruto charged yet again. The Kyuubi however was fed up with him, and as Naruto closed in to attack, the Demon reached out and with casual ease grabbed the boy around the throat and lifted him into the air.

"**Pathetic. It always amazes me that your race manages to walk and breathe at the same time. Sadly for you however, My time is growing short. So, let's you and I take a quick Jaunt to the outside world shall we."**

There was a moment of wavering, nauseating, distortion, and then Naruto found himself looking out of his own eyes. Watching as Sasuke walked across the surface of the lake toward him, effortlessly charging a Chidori as he did so.

"This is the end then Naruto. Over the past few months I have allowed you to grow close. Closer in fact than I had really intended to, but I suppose that it's unavoidable. You see, to unlock the full potential of these eyes I need to kill my best friend, and as the only acquaintance that I can stand for more than 10 minutes at a time, you have the dubious honor of filling that requirement. Do I regret what I'm about to do? Somewhat. Is it going to stop me?"

Naruto widened his eyes in horror at the cruel smirk that crossed Sasuke's lips a moment before he answered himself.

"No chance in hell."

---Chapter break---

Naruto could only watch in horror as the shining point of energy descended toward him, closing his eyes, he finally despaired. He knew what was coming, and at last he gave up. Sadly for him, this was just what the Kyuubi had been waiting for. The fox could of course have stepped in at any time, but he wanted to feel Naruto's emotions, To savor the boy's feeling of complete helplessness as his best friend killed him, to taste the sweet pain of the human's last moments.

Distantly the Kyuubi felt the attack enter the boy's body. Felt it burning through vital organs, spreading it's damage though the whole body. Felt the boy's spirit fading. Then he made a vital error. He didn't wait for it to disappear completely before he took control of the body. Smirking, the Kyuubi wrapped his new body in his own malevolent chakra, unintentionally accelerating the rate of healing to thousands of times what it should have been capable of.

Opening eyes that were now stained blood red the Kyuubi took Sasuke's hand, the one that was currently sticking out the back of Naruto's chest, and calmly snapped it like a twig before pulling out.

"What the hell! It's like during your fight with Neji! What is this chakra! How did you get so much power?" Sasuke shouted at Naruto.

The Kyuubi smirked, twisting Naruto's face into a dark mockery of it's self.

"**It's simple fool. He was a Jinchikurri. When he found himself in a battle he couldn't win I'd simply push a little of my own greatness into this pathetically weak body and let him do what he wanted with it."**

Sasuke's eye's widened in shock at the deep voice suddenly echoing out of naruto's mouth. Trembling he took a step backward, and promptly fell on his ass into the stream. Coughing and sputtering he scrambled back to the surface, a wave of his own corrupted chakra snapping his arm back into place and roughly healing it.

"Wh... Who are you!"

Kyuubi smirked again, not answering as he advanced on the now terrified Uchiha. The next few minutes were a cacophony of yelled techniques and pained screams as the Kyuubi proceeded to shred the human, subconsciously altering the boy he was inhabiting to better suit his own needs. When he was done, Naruto's body was hosting nine tails, so dark a red as to be nearly black, the red eyes were now slit, and the body had grown a second set of ears on top as the kyuubi had decided it was easier to grow new one's than it was to fix the old. Sasuke too looked substantially different, of course that could have been the complete lack of limbs, or the fact that one of his eyes had been torn out, and his face badly mauled by the claws that now tipped Naruto's hands.

Kyuubi smirked, much as his host body, the Uchiha's screams had been music to it's ears. Straightening the human's back, the Kyuubi allowed a smile to play across it's stolen face. Behind him the Uchiha's breathing was growing more and more labored, turning the Kyuubi sauntered over to whisper in Sasuke's remaining usable ear.

"**Tell the Death God that the Kyuubi sends his regards"**

Sasuke's remaining eye widened, and a shudder passed through his body as he spent his last breath. Pleased Kyuubi nodded to himself and began to straighten again when he heard a Dark voice behind him.

_"**Why Don't you tell me yourself."**_

Trying to Dodge, Kyuubi knew it was a futile attempt, he could already feel the power being drained out of him. Turning to face his end, Kyuubi was shocked at what he saw. Instead of the death God being the one draining his power, it was an echo of Naruto, a steadily solidifying spirit Pulling on his power even as the angry young man stalked forward. Shocked, Kyuubi didn't move even as the specter stood directly in front of him.

"Goodbye Kyuubi."

With that Naruto Reared back and punched his body in the face, knocking what remained of the Kyuubi's spirit out the back of his head. Kyuubi, shocked, shifted to a fully fox body in midair and landed roughly on the ground, not noticing that the body he had been inhabiting had completed the transformation with him. Naruto on the other had was having problems. When he had punched the Kyuubi, his hand had entered his old physical flesh, and now he couldn't seem to remove it.

The death god, looking vaguely amused at the boy trying to tug himself free decided that in the long run it would only cause problems to try and fix this. With a shrug, he reached forward and shoved Naruto's specter in the back, Hard. He had just enough time to register shock in the boy's eyes before the spirit was pulled completely into the body. Smirking to himself the death god turned to where he had left Kyuubi laying stunned on the ground, only to find that in his moment of distraction the fox had decided to slip away. Growling to it's self the death god gave chase, leaving an unconscious Naruto trapped in the body of a two tailed fox.

-----

Naruto watched apathetically as his body died, The Kyuubi had ejected him a moment ago, and the rather glum spirit was now watching as the fox possessed it, and with slight surprise as the wounds began to heal. He watched in annoyance as the fox began altering it to suit his own needs, and with vindication as his former body literally eviscerated his former friend. Cocking his head to one side he wondered what he was supposed to do now.

_**Now? Now we finish the job.**_

Naruto calmly turned around, he had been more than half expecting the being behind him, and so didn't start in the slightest at the black visage of death.

_And what do you want me to do?_

_**What Minato intended. Steal his chakra, and then move on.**_

Unsure exactly how to go about doing so Naruto walked over to where his body was admiring the rapidly expiring Uchiha. Cocking his head to one side he did the first thing that came to mind, he grabbed a tail and pulled. He was more than a little shocked at how easily the chakra started flowing, and so he grabbed another tail, and then a third. At this point he could feel his spirit solidifying. He was contemplating grabbing another tail when he was startled by the death god reaching past him to collect the soul of a glowering Sasuke.

"Bastard"  He said on reflex

Sasuke smiled, a very sad smile, but a smile none-the-less

"Moron."

Sasuke was nearly to the death god when he spoke again.

"Give him hell for me... Naruto"

Naruto smiled and nodded. Turning back to the stunned Kyuubi, who could apparently see both himself and the deity beside him, he began to stalk forward till he was face to face with his old nemisis. Still feeling the power he was pulling from the old demon, he stared deep into shocked eyes for a second.

"Good Bye Kyuubi"

With that he reared back and letting go with a straight arm punch to the nose. He smiled in satisfaction at the yelp the Kyuubi emitted as he was forcefully ejected from the body. The smile turned to a confused frown as his hand refused to break contact with said body, the body it's self had morphed further, and was now fully fox, but even as the puzzled Naruto looked, he could see a faint outline of the form kyuubi had used during his slaughter of Sasuke, as well as a completely human outline just behind that. Naruto was just turning to ask the death God what to do now when he felt a strong push to his back. He had just enough time to turn stunned eyes to the Death god before he was pulled completely into the fox's Body, and then, everything went black

-----

In Konoha, Sakura sat at the western gate, staring out in the direction she had last seen Naruto and Sasuke-kun Head. She worried about what was happening, as it was now late afternoon. They had left in the morning. That was when she sensed an immense chakra. She was taken aback for a moment before she recalled the last time she had felt chakra emitted on such a large scale

_Naruto..._

But there was so much chakra, To much really, and it felt oddly heavy.

"Oh my god, he must have done what lee did during his fight with Gaara. He must have opened the celestial gates."

stunned, her mouth dropped open for a moment before she grumbled. Leaning back she stared at the obvious glow with narrowed eyes.

_He had better not have hurt my Sasuke-kun_

_---_ Chapter Break---

As the final Battle commenced, and Sakura sat staring ever westward, every adult in Konoha had begun to quietly Panic. The Chakra was far to intense, too malovant, and they knew what it meant... the seal was broken, the power of the kyuubi had been unleashed yet again. Moving quickly they began to gather belongings and pack bags. They wern't fleeing just yet, but when the Order came, they fully intended to be ready to run

---

Studying the glow on the horizon, Tsunade could feel a migraine coming on.

_I swear to god if that that thrice cursed necklace has claimed another of my precious people I'm going to grind it into powder, heirloom or not._

None of this showed on her face however as she turned to the assembled ANBU, Jounin, and Family Heads.

"Obviously something has gone wrong with the retrieval. Kakashi, Do you know what's been going on?"

Kakashi bowed his head in shame.

"Yes Tsunade-Sama. I failed and Sasuke turned traitor. I presume that that others were sent to retrieve him as some form of test to be evaluated later for their admittance to chuunin?"

Tsunade's eyes were cold, but she nodded anyway.

"Correct. You understand then why you will NOT be joining the retrieval party."

Kakashi's head sunk lower.

"Yes Hokage-Sama"

"Good. Anko, Take a half dozen ANBU and go scout what just occurred. Collect anything that has survived if at all possible. If you encounter... 'IT'... Send back warning as quickly as possible."

Anko nodded and began to rise, only to be stopped by the Hokage's firm grip on her upper arm.

"Be certain of your targets before you engage, if 'IT' is loose but not headed our way you let it go, do I make myself clear."

Swallowing heavily Anko nodded. With a quick glance at the ANBU squad, she turned and raced westward. Praying as she did so that she wouldn't encounter anything but comrades.

-----

Shikamaru, Kiba, Lee, and the sand trio stood on the canyon wall looking down at the devastation below. The two great monoliths that had once that had once decorated the opposing canyon walls were now nothing but rubble blocking the flow of the river that had run though the canyon. The canyon walls were littered with cracks and craters, and down below, they could make out two shapes. Gently a stoic Gaara lowered them down into the canyon on his sand. The first thing the six of them saw was Sasuke's mutilated body. The bled out wounds and trails of blood immediately catching their eye. The Konoha gennin gagged, but the Sand sibilings, long used to Gaara's carnage simply ignored it. They were more focused on the other body.

A fox with two tails lay exhausted and battered a mere thirty feet from the Uchiha's remains. Temari was the first to react, walking over she prodded it with the toe of her shoe earning a whimper from the beast. Turning back to her siblings she raised an eyebrow. Kankuro shrugged at the unasked question in her eyes. Gaara was silent as usual. After a moment She also shrugged. Turning back she drew a Kunai and prepared to end it's life only to find her arm encased in sand a moment later. Freezing she turned to her youngest brother, terrified that he was about to crush her. Gaara however ignored her, moving instead to the fox to study it with curious eyes.

His study was interrupted however by one of the loudmouth Konoha gennin.

"What is that? And where is Naruto?" Kiba asked.

Gaara frowned, but before he could reply Shikamaru spoke up. "What ever it is, it apparently had enough power do a lot of this damage. As for Naruto... I honestly don't know. His body could have been vaporized by that explosion of chakra. He could be wounded and headed back to Konoha, He could be buried under any amount of rubble... There's nothing we can do right now. Kiba, Lee..."

He paused for a moment to choke back a little bile before continuing

"Help me collect Sasukes' body. Gaara, would you kindly carry both the remains and that things body back to Konoha for us?"

Gaara, ever impassive, didn't wait for the other gennin, and instead scooped up the various body parts as well as a very familiar feeling fox and began the long walk back to Konoha.


	2. Circles in Circles

Sakura sat looking out over the road, it had been three hours since the chakra explosion, and two and a half since the Chunin examiner had raced toward it followed closely by a squad of ANBU. Frowning Sakura sat up and squinted her eyes. A flicker at the edge of her vision drew her attention, and soon she could make out the shapes of various Shinobe racing quickly through the trees. Standing she walked to the wall and leaned outward trying to Identify the Nin's racing toward her, ready to sound the alarm in case of another attack. She was somewhat relieved when she Identified the distinctive clothing of Anko's ANBU escort. She was more than slightly surprised however to notice that more than one of them was carrying a limp body, and several of them had clothes showing bloodstains.

When they got withing shouting distance Sakura call out, and was more than a little surprised that the ANBU didn't even slow down, jumping straight over her and heading for the hospital, she waited a few minutes, and was just about to follow them when a second group broke the cover of the forest and headed for the walls, it took a few minutes, but soon they reached the door and were let in the normal way. All of them were bloodstained, and most looked exhausted.

"Shikamaru?"

Said boy looked up, he had been trudging almost drunkenly, staggering and leaning on one of the sand siblings, 'Kankuro' if she remembered correctly.

"Shikamaru? What happened?"

Shikamaru sighed and muttered in a low voice to the puppet master for a moment. He nodded, and led the tired Chunin over to a nearby bench. Sakura followed, ignoring the rest of them as they wearily trudged past her. Kankuro shot he a questioning look and then muttered something to Shikamaru Shikamaru sighed again and gave a nod before dismissing him. Sakura took that as a sign that she could approach. There was a minute or two of silence before the Nara began talking, and by the time he was done Sakura was seeing red.

* * *

It had been three days since the retrieval team had returned carrying Sasuke's Body, and a badly wounded, kitsune. Tsunade the fifth Hokage of Konoha couldn't help but sigh. The last three days had been hell for her. The Rookie team had all survived, but it had been a close thing. To make matters worse, the village was in an uproar. The Official report she had released to the village was that the Traitor Sasuke had attempted to summon a demon and had been killed in the process. Tsunade rubbed her temples

_what I really need _

she thought

_is a stiff drink and a card game _

Unfortunately neither one was likely to happen. As of yet the ANBU teams hadn't been able to find Naruto's body in the wreckage that the chakra explosion had left behind. Even worse, the young demon that the team had brought back was still alive, and had in fact been showing signs of waking up. To Compound the trouble Sakura had been to the room Tsunade had claimed Naruto was resting in every day since she found out about Sasuke's death. Just thinking about that girl made the Tsunade's blood boil.

"How can that damn girl blame this on Naruto?"

she wondered aloud for the hundredth time.

"It's not like he didn't try"

A single tear trickled down her face

"Hell I don't even know where that Baka is!"

Just then, the door burst open filling her study with light…

* * *

Sakura stalked up and down the hallway in front of Naruto's room

"How could that dobe break his promise to me?" she mouthed

Up until five minutes ago, she had been trying to break into the room that she had been told Naruto was in. Sakura took a moment to glare at the Jounin standing just to one side with a relieved expression on her face. Sakura thought about trying to break in again, but until she regained her voice it was useless anyway.

--Flashback to five Minutes ago--

Sakura threw herself at the door to Naruto's room, trying to force her way past the guard. As she fought she screamed every vile epitaph she knew at the occupant of the room beyond her. She had only found out this morning what room Naruto had been put in, but the moment she knew, she attempted every means possible to break in. She had every intension of killing her former teammate, she quite literally intended to tear him apart the way Sasuke had been. Unfortunately for her, the doctors felt that nobody was to disturb the quiet of the ward. Even more unfortunately, (again, for her. The guard found it a relief) the Konoha doctors were excellent at localized paralyzing jutsu's.

--Flashback End--

They had told her that there was a good chance she might re-gain control of her voice by tomorrow.

_Damn them! I'll kill those damn doctors, that arrogant guard, and naruto to boot!_

As nobody else could hear her thoughts, let alone her voice all they saw was her nodding to herself. Sakura was considering one last attempt for the day when an idea hit her. I'm not talking about the puny ideas that regular ninja had. I'm talking about the mother and father of all evil Ideas! Well, in her mind anyway.

_This WILL work!_ Crowed her inner mind. _After all, Naruto has to wake up sometime…_

* * *

"TSUNADE!" Yelled the outline "We need you to come quickly…"

"What's so damn important Jirayia?" Asked Tsunade

"It's waking up."

* * *

-Elsewere in the hospital-

Naruto yawned widely and stretched out, shaking out the pair of tails that had been curled around him.

…_ TAILS! __WHAT THE HELL! SINCE WHEN DO I HAVE TAILS?_

_**Relax kid**_

_RELAX MY ASS! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO ME!_

_**... Well for starters I let you live**_

At that point, Naruto calmed down… a little bit anyway. The shinigami, sensing this spoke again

**Much better. At the moment I'd say that we, and by 'we' I mean 'You' have a bit of a problem**

_What? You mean other than the fact I'm STUCK IN THAT DAMN FOX'S BODY! _Naruto yelled into the recesses of his mind.

**Relax a moment kid. You stole pure chakra from one of the greater Youki, surely you didn't expect to escape without consequence.**

_Well, no. I was rather expecting to be dead to be honest, I certainly didn't expect this. I'm a KITSUNE for crying out loud._

**Yes and no kid**

Looking back at this conversation Naruto would later realize that this was the point that he lost the edge of panic he had been carrying. Not because there was any less reason to worry, quite the contrary to be honest. but more because panicking had never helped in the past, and he had learned quickly that he needed to keep a clear mind to survive. Three deep breaths allowed him to refocus his panic, and re-assess his situation. He was stuck in the body of a two tailed fox, and was apparently carrying on a conversation with the embodiment of death. Not exactly normal, but then again when had anything been normal in his life.

_Ok, I think I'm capable of thinking this through now. So, what happened?_

The blackened visage of death shrugged lightly.

**Things didn't go the way the fourth had planned**

_Exactly what do you mean?_

**The fourth Hokage summoned me to seal away the power of one of the Bijju, I was willing to do an even swap at that point as the fox has been causing me trouble for the last two or three eons, but he had already written the contract up.**

_He had?_

**Sure, the seals he tattooed into your skin formed a binding agreement between himself and I. He sacrificed his remaining years on earth in exchange for the fox being bound and it's energy and knowledge being siphoned off. Eventually the fox would have been fully absorbed and you would have been left in full control of it. Had you ever married and procreated it would have been re-incarnated as your firstborn child. Fully human, but with a mischievous streak a mile wide. He would have lived out his life, died, and been judged as any human would be.**

_But?_

**You died.**

_Um... Oops?_

The shinigami threw his head back and howled with laughter for a moment at the embarassed look on Naruto's face

**It's not your fault really, and there was a clause about that happening too. Sadly I didn't uphold my end of it.**

Naruto looked confused, so the Shinigami elaborated

**When you died, he was supposed to go with you. The seal I put on it's cage should have held it while you dragged it kicking and screaming to it's judgement. I didn't consider the fact that it might be able to muster enough power to burn it's way out when your spirit was crossing between life and death. As such, it managed to escape. Though with how much power you stole, it should be substantially weaker.**

_But... Why am I still alive?_

**Ah... yes... that... well, see what happened when you were ejected was that your body hadn't completely severed it's ties with your spirit yet. The Kyuubi forced you out and healed your body, but it was in fact still YOUR body, not a cadaver. That's why he was rather violently evicted when you hit him. It's also why you couldn't pull free. Your body was still alive, hence your spirit should still have been inside it. I decided that in the long run it would simpler all around to just let you get on with your life. Provided of course that you're willing to keep an eye out for that damn fox for me.**

_I... don't think I'll have a problem with that._

**Good. So I'll just be going then**

_HEY! What the hell am I supposed to do then? Stay a fox?!?_

**Oh... right... I keep forgetting that you humans don't have the basic instincts to get back to your own form. **

_So... a little help?_

**Right. It's like... Hmmm. You know that feeling you get as you sneeze?**

_Sure, I guess._

**Like that, except over you whole body. Just pick which of the three you want. Well, cya!**

_WHAT! You're just going to... DAMMIT! COME BACK HERE!_


	3. Balance and Imbalance

_WHAT! You're just going to... DAMMIT! COME BACK HERE!_

_-----  
_

Naruto sighed as he stared at the empty space that the shinigami had stood in a moment before.

_Well. I suppose that there's no time like the present._

Mentally bracing himself Naruto tried to work out exactly how to change.

-----

**-**Elsewhere, outside a guarded room-

_It will work_

"I'll MAKE it work."

"What's that young lady?" asked the Jounin. Mentally she cringed, it saddened her that the doctors had been so far off on how long she wouldn't be able to speak, but she supposed that if the girl got too violent again she could be Bound and gagged.

"Nothing" Snarled Sakura as she turned and stalked down the hall

_That was odd _

thought the guard

_It is the perfect Idea_ Gloated the inner Sakura _There's no way he'll be able to resist my charms. Then when he least expects it.._ Sakura chuckled darkly to herself, and murmured "Then I drive a Kunai into his heart"

Had Sakura been a little less pre-occupied with her thoughts she would have noticed a certain blue haired, pale-eyed girl widen her eyes at the last comment

_I think she's really planning to kill someone. Someone I know? Oh...I bet it's Uchiha-san. It's sad that nobody told her that he died of his wounds._

If only Hinata could have known how wrong she was

_Ah well _

she thought, unaware of what had been transpiring in the head of a certain mentally unstable pink hair kounichi.

_Onward. This time... This time I'll finally do it...Maybe..._

Straightening her shoulder, Hinata left to visit all of her classmates and family. Mentally she reviewed the list of injuries.

_Kiba's been bedridden with long gashes across his arms and legs from his battle; Neji's been in even worse condition... I hope he wakes up soon. Poor Chouji, the doctors are amazed that he's still alive after taking the Red pill._

Throughout this though, one person and one person only dominated the majority of her thoughts

_Naruto..._

-----

Striding quickly though the halls Tsunade Ignored the guards who straightened as she approached. She knew that if she wanted to keep the information of the Fox's recovery out of the wrong hands she'd have to act quickly.

_If I knew where Naruto is I wouldn't be bothering... Damn it, if this is Kyuubi and Naruto's been injured at all, even being a Youki won't save him. We'll see how long it takes that bastard to regenerated when he's had his head separated from his body._

Rounding the last corner she nodded to the guards and swiftly entered the room, Jirayia following close behind.

-----

Naruto sighed to himself and stretched out.

_Meditation has to be the most boring thing in existence... 'Whole body sneeze' my ass, how the hell am I supposed to figure out how to do a f... _

"**ACHOO!"**

Naruto Blinked rather rapidly as he suddenly lost a tail. Cocking his head to one side he stared doubtfully at the other one.

_Now how did I do that?_

_-----  
_

Moving quickly Tsunade showed the guards her clearance, and followed the correct protocol for entering the High security section of the the Tower. It seemed like hours to her though she mentally knew that it was a necessity to keep infiltrators and impersonators away from the critically injured Shinobe. Kakashi glanced at her briefly as she entered, and then went back to studying the fox on the other side of the one way mirror

"What's happening?" she growled "this stupid toad comes charging into my office saying that the Kitsune was waking up and then I get down here to see…. The Hell?"

"Quite Remarkable and a little nauseating Tsunade-sama. A moment ago one of the tails went amorphous and was then sucked into the body.

"We got it on Tape?"

Kakashi frowned

"I'm sorry but no. When the morph started something caused the electronics to go haywire."

"What?"

Kakashi pointed to the blank screen in the corner.

"I don't know if it was intentional or not, but he fried all the unshielded electronics in the room."

Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temples.

"Alright. I'm going in to try and talk to it. If anything happens."

Kakashi nodded.

"I'll hit the button for the knock out gas first and we'll see what we can do for you after."

Taking deep breath Tsunade walked down and opened the only door to the padded interrogation room."

-----

_'No problem' he say 'only humans can't do it instinctively' he says. That son of a bitch set me up. Maybe I can find a way to make myself sneeze again. Of course if I can't control the change..._

Naruto's internal rant was cut off by the sound of the door opening.

"Ahem. Kitsune, I am Tsunade..."

Naruto, without thinking out how it would look to an outside observer Pounced His favorite hokage.

_OBA-CHAN! You'll Never believe the kind of weird... what the hell? _

Naruto cocked his head to the side as a green gas suddenly started streaming down from holes in the ceiling.

_Oba-chan?_

Tsunade was flat on her back, knocked down by his rather enthuastic greeting, but he noticed that she was rather rapidly falling asleep.

_Shit! It's a trap! They got her! Oh hell, I hope she brought backup._

Focusing inward naruto strained to pull off a trick Jirayia had tried to teach him once. One he hadn't seen the use for at the time

_And Swirl..._

Staying as close as he could to Tsunade he released his chakra and tried to make a spinning dome of air. The concentration it took was always terrible until he had mastered a Jutsu, and not only was this one he hadn't mastered yet, he was also in an unfamiliar body. Kakashi and Jirayia watched in shock as the 'Attacking' fox tried to pull off an incredibly tricky chakra manipulation. It had obviously inhaled some of the gas as it was beginning to sway on it's feet, but the incredible part was that it was apperently trying to wake Tsunade up at the same time. Or at least that was how they chose to interpret it giving her cheek a couple of soft nuzzles just before it finally collapsed under the effects of the drug.

-----

Hinata closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It had taken her a while, but she had finally found out where naruto's room was, but her courage was failing her again.

_All right, I can do this. It's Naruto after all. I don't really Have to tell him I have a crush on him, if I just make sure to be there for him he's bound to notice me sooner or later. And He did say that he likes people like me just before the exams._

Taking another deep breath Hinata tried to will her feet to take her around the corner and past the jounin gaurding the door. They refused to listen however, No matter how many time she told herself that she was ready, she just couldn't move.

_Maybe... Maybe I'll just check and see if he's awake first._

"Byukougan"

-----

Tsunade's Eyes snapped open and she rolled to her feet, quickly falling into a battle stance, or at least that had been the plan. What really happened was that she rolled out of the bed she had been lying in, and the solid thump and low moan had Shizune hurrying over to check on her master.

"Little bastard jumped me, Next time he won't catch me off guard like that. How badly was I hurt?"

Shizune bit her lower lip slightly unconsciously posing in a way that had a certain resident pervert scribbling furiously in his notebook.

"You wern't hurt Tsunade-Sama"

there was a few seconds pause before tsunade leaned foreward releasing some very directed killing intent as she did so.

"What?"

Shizune took a half set back. She knew that look, and it promised all kinds of pain for someone.

"K...Kakashi saw the Fox leap at you and he hit the knockout button on reflex."

"So the fox did attack me?"

"Um..."

Luckily Kakashi chose to speak up from where he stood at the monitors.

"We thought so at first, but we're not so sure any more."

Shizune sighed in relief as 'the look' was directed away from her and on to an oblivious Kakashi.

"Explain. Now."

Kakashi took a deep breath to dispel the feeling of her eyes on his back before straightening again and gesturing to the screen where he had been reviewing footage of the brief encounter.

"It might be best if you see it for yourself."

-----


	4. Second Tries and Shocking Politics

"_We thought so at first, but we're not so sure any more."_

_Shizune sighed in relief as 'the look' was directed away from her and on to an oblivious Kakashi._

"_Explain. Now."_

_Kakashi took a deep breath to dispel the feeling of her eyes on his back before straightening again and gesturing to the screen where he had been reviewing footage of the brief encounter._

"_It might be best if you see it for yourself."_

-----

Hinata took a deep breath and tried to force down the red in her cheeks. a red for once not caused by embarrassment, but rather by anger.

"So let me see if I get this right. Naruto is in the room behind you."

The Jounin nodded.

"The room that is Opaque to a Hyuuga's eyes."

"Yes"

"and you're under orders not to allow anyone in. Nobody at all?"

"Only Tsunade-Hime, Shizune, and Jirayia-san."

Hinata frowned.

"And who issued the orders?"

"Tsunade-hime herself."

"To you personally."

"Yes."

Hinata's frown deepened a little more before her face went blank. She bowed slightly to the guard and turned to walk down the corridor. A small sigh and a slight drooping of her shoulders the only things showing her disappointment. A Disappointment that made the Jounin on guard feel like a complete ass.

-----

It had not been a good day for Anko. First that Pink haired chick had tried to force her way past. Then, after she had been forced to restrain her, The girl thrown a temper tantrum. Her screamed demands had been enough to call down the wrath of the Hospital staff, but even that wasn't enough to keep the kid quiet. It had taken a pair of paralysis experts to finally shut the little bint the vile little wretch had finally left, but no sooner had she gone than the special Jounin had felt the presence of another person lurking around the corner. The newcomer had stood there for what was possibly five minutes before the Irate Hyuuga Had finally rounded the corner and given her the fifth degree. She was thankfully much more polite even if she had made her feel ashamed of keeping such a good friend away from a wounded comrade. After a bit the Hyuuga had left as well. Sighing Anko leaned back against the wall.

_Finally a little piece and quiet._

"Come on Guys, the Nurse said his room was just over here."

The yapping of a dog could be clearly heard immediately after this pronouncement, and the sheer racket of the approaching people felt like a hammer blow to her head.

_Dammit. Spoke to soon.  
_

_-----_

_"_Alright, are we ready for the second attempt?"

"are you certain it's wise for you to go in again Tsunade? It did try to jump you."

"It also tried to protect me if I recall correctly."

"So we surmise. But can we really be certain?"

Tsunade grinned, and Shizune mentally cursed, she knew that look.

"Why I'm glad you asked, as a matter of fact there is a way."

Kakashi's eyes sparkled with mirth as shizune sighed, they could both see what was coming even before Tsunade continued.

"I try again."

Shizune shook her head.

"Just be careful OK?"

Tsunade smiled and gestured toward the door, Kakashi turned back to the controls with a soft chuckle and pushed the button to open the cell door. Squaring her shoulders Tsunade once again walked into the room.

-----

Naruto woke slowly from his chakra depletion, his skin ached from the strain he had put on his chakra points, but he was still whole, and relatively well rested

_Damn, did someone see the cart that hit me?_

He didn't have long to ponder that question however before his attention was drawn to the sound of the door opening again.

-----

Tsunade paused at the door, and took a deep breath.

_Alright, Round two._

Squaring her shoulders she opened the door and walked in.

"Pardon me Kitsune" Began Tsunade Politely "I know that many creatures of your… unique blood can understand Human speech. In fact, many Yuma can speak it. If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to have a word with you."

Slowly, ever SO slowly the fox turned its head toward the Hokage.

The Fox's head slowly turned to her, and Tsunade braced herself to fight if it came down to that. After the last little incident, it had been decided that the knockout gas would be the Last option instead of the first. As she met the fox's eyes however Tsunade's breath hitched.

_His Eyes…_

It was a shock to say the least, but the Bright blue eyes burned with a familiar intensity, and as he noticed her reaction, the fox's grin seemed to grow just a little bit bigger. Tsunade studied his eyes very carefully, and then made a slow circuit of the bed while The fox watched, fidgeting impatiently. After making her inspection Tsunade stood in front of it again and stared deeply into it's all to human eyes.

"Naruto?" asked Tsunade quietly

_Yup!_

The trio could only stare as the fox gave a very human nod of agreement.

"How do I know your not the Kyuubi?"

_Cause if I was I'd have probably torn you to shreds by now? But then you can't hear me can you..._

The fox tilted it's head to the side as though asking if she were crazy and then snorted lightly and laid down on the bed, being careful to keep a weather eye on the hokage. Tsunade shook her head at the impertinence of the gesture.

"Well, you certainly have the right attitude to be Naruto. Can you speak?"

_If I could speak I'd have done it by now Baa-chan. Now go away for a bit, I need to work out how to change back._

The fox shook it's head slightly, and to everyone's shock rolled it's eyes at her. Tsunade watched with narrowed eyes, after a moment however she started walking toward the door. Making certain to keep an eye on the fox as she did so.

"I need to step out for a moment and think about this. Stay here."

_And where would I go looking like THIS? Geeze Baa-chan, I think the stress is getting to you._

Tsunade was almost to the door when the fox suddenly sat up and stared right at her.

_And get me some ramen while your out ya? I'm getting hungry! Oh wait... can't hear me...Kuso._

After a minute of staring at her the fox shook it's head and laid down again. Taking this as her chance to get back out unmolested Tsunade used the moment to quickly slip out the door.

-----

"Listen kid, I wouldn't care if you were the fourth himself, I am only accountable to Tsunade at the moment, and she said NO VISITORS!"

Kiba growled deep in the back of his throat as he contemplated the Jounin in front of him, Anko on the other hand looked slightly bored and a little annoyed. Taking a deep breath Kiba fought down his first reaction. Biting her probably wouldn't help his cause.

"Since when" he began "Are recovering Shinobe not allowed to have company."

"Look kid. Were it up to me I'd let you in. the fact is, I have Orders. You know what those are right?"

Kiba growled again at the sarcasm, but anko ignored it.

"Good, so when I am ordered to guard a door, and let nobody in 'On pain of death'..."

Anko trailed off with a slightly mocking grin, and the only thing that stopped Kiba from trying to jump her, (and getting his ass kicked) was Shino's hand on his shoulder.

"Pardon us Anko-san" Anko's eyebrows rose at the fact that he knew her name. "But we were under the impression that he was mostly healed and simply relaxing now. He is well yes."

As distinctly uncomfortable as the question made her, Anko betrayed the fact neither in expression nor body language.

"Of course, He's just not ready for visitors yet."

Shino nodded briefly and then led a protesting Kiba away. Anko sighed

_Perhaps I can finally..._

She trailed off as Hyuuga Haishi and a handful of other council members rounded the corner.

"Ah, Miterashi Anko. We need a word with your ward"

-----

"Well, what do you think? Dangerous?"

Tsnade cocked her head to the side at Shizune's question.

"It's chakra potential is higher than anything I've seen since the Kyuubi it's self."

Tsunade took a deep breath and blew it out before continuing.

"It also seems to, at the very least Believe, that It's Uzumaki Naruto."

"Um Tsunade-sama."

"I'm not Entirely sure whether or not we can make a safe assumption that..."

"Tsunade-Sama"

Tsunade frowned at her Student for a moment before continuing."

"...as I was saying. I'm not sure that it's safe to make the assumption that it is indeed Naruto without.

"TSUNADE!"

"WHAT!?!"

Shizune Blushed as she turned away from the rooms monitor.

"Erm... Naruto seems to have managed to change back, and I'm afraid the he's going to need some new clothes."

_-----_

"YES!"

standing Naruto did a little dance for joy. It had only taken him four hours, one of which were spent unconscious, but he was Back!

"Um... Naruto-kun."

"Hey Baa-chan! I got it figured out!"

Tsunade's voice was slightly amused and seemed almost slightly embarrassed as well.

"That's good to hear Naruto, but we need to talk."

"OK!"

"Erm... would you like some clothes perhaps?"

Naruto paused and looked down. Somewhere deep in his mind he knew that his current nudity should bother him. Especially with Tsunade, or for that matter any woman, present but he just didn't care.

_Hmm... I'll have to ask the shinigami about this the next time I see him._

"Not particularly to be honest, but if it would make you feel more comfortable than I can do so yes."

Tsunade's eyebrows both jerked upward in surprise. It had taken forever to get him to take off so much as his shirt the last time she had ordered him to come in for his yearly physical. After a few seconds to collect herself she replied.

"Yes, I think that would probably be for the best."

-----

"What do you mean by 'thats not possible'."

Anko swallowed at the ice in Haishi's voice.

_I think I'd rather be fighting Orochimaru again..._

Anko took a deep breath before replying.

"Just what I said Hyuuga-Sama. Nobody is allowed in until I receive Verbal confirmation from Tsunade herself."

Haishi's eyes bored into hers for another slow minute before he nodded slightly.

"I see. Very well."

Turning his head Haishi pointed randomly at one of his entourage.

"You. Go find the Hokage. Tell her to meet us here at her earliest convenience. We will be waiting."

The council member took one look at the Irate Haishi, and took off running the opposite direction. He'd complain later... when he was at home... behind a silence seal.

-----

"... and then I woke up here and... well, you know the rest."

Tsunade rubbed her temples, if it had been anyone else telling the story she would have had them immediately committed to the psychiatric ward.

"So let me see if I have this right. You fought Sasuke."

"Yup."

"Using nothing but your own power"

"Mmm Hmm"

"He used Orochimaru's seal for power."

"Twice"

"Twice?"

"Well, there were two distinct stages"

"Right. He drew on Orochimaru's seal to a second stage."

Naruto nodded, his face grim as he remembered the fight.

"Sasuke used Kakashi's technique 'Chidiri' and rammed a fist through the middle of your chest."

Naruto nodded again.

"and you died."

Naruto shifted slightly before replying.

"Like I said, there was no repairing it without drawing more of Kyuubi's power and..."

He trailed off under Tsunade's withering gaze.

"We will talk about using all the tools at your disposal later. Continue."

Naruto nodded and continued in a low voice.

"I decided that I would rather die then be that dependent on Kyuubi's power. He disagreed and found a way to burn himself out of the weakened seal."

"At which point he possessed your body by kicking out your soul."

Naruto nodded again with a grimace, and Tsunade continued.

"He then proceed to dismember Sasuke and started gloating."

"ya..."

"And then the Shinigami himself arrived, told you how to steal the Kyuubi's power and Intended to collect both of your souls, but through some twist of fate, you ended up back in your... 'adjusted' body, and Kyuubi managed to slip away leaving you in control of a good portion of his power as well as stuck in a body that is apparently now able to shape shift."

Naruto paused and thought about it for a few minutes.

"Yup, that sounds about accurate."

Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temples again.

"Only you Naruto."

"I know. So, how soon till I can get out of here?"

Tsunade looked askance at her charge.

"You do realize that you should be freaking out right now right?"

Naruto grinned and nodded to her.

"Yup! Best I can guess is that being half fox has either changed my psychology a bit, or else I'm in a form of mental overload that's causing me to ignore anything that would cause a mental conflict. I suppose that It's also possible I've just come to terms with it already, but that doesn't seem to be all that likely."

Tsunade cocked an eyebrow at him and Naruto shrugged.

"I had a lot of free time, so I read quite a bit in between planning pranks. The issue was that very little of it had anything to do with chakra control or geometry. I never did care much for math... so, can I go now?"

Tsunade thought the question over carefully before making her decision.

-----

"Erm... Lord Haishi?"

Haishi looked up from where he had been discussing some minor clan business with a retainer.

"Um... Tsunade-Hime wasn't in her office, nor was she in the tower."

Haishi's stare didn't waver as the council member shifted uncomfortably. After a long moment Hashi spoke.

"and where did you find her then?"

The councilor looked slightly panicked

"Um...."

Haishi's mouth turned down further.

"I see."

"And why"

asked an amused voice from behind the young councilor

"would the group of you be looking for me?"

-----

An:

Sorry I didn't get this posted faster, it's been done for quite a while now, but I keep forgetting to put it up. In all honesty I could probably post the next one pretty soon too.

:$

~Manatheron


	5. Suspicions

"_And why" _

_asked an amused voice behind the young counciller _

"_would the group of you be looking for me"

* * *

_

"So let me get this straight. You have proof that Uzumaki Naruto is in fact Namikaze Naruto, and is therefore the successor of the Yondaime with all rights and privileges thereof, and you're only just now coming forward with it?"

Haishi shrugged

"Saratobi-Sama already knew, even if he didn't have proof. He felt it better for Naruto to grow up without his father's enemies chasing him around. Jirayia has probably guessed by now considering how close his looks to his father. Kakashi was informed before he was named Team7's Instructor, and I had thought it best to let you settle into office for a while before being informed."

Tsunade stared at him for a moment over steepled fingers. At his request they had retreated to the Hokage's tower. Haishi however wasn't even slightly perturbed. Returning her gaze with an annoyingly emotionless look of his own. After a few seconds had passed in silence Tsunade let her attention shift to the picture of Minato that hung on the wall. She studied his face for a moment. In truth Haishi had only confirmed what she had suspected since meeting the boy. Sighing she turned back to Haishi and replied

"While I do thank you for bringing this to my attention, It complicates things for me."

The only change in Haishi's expression was a slight quirking of a delicate eyebrow.

"At approximately nine o-clock Tuesday morning, Uchiha Sasuke attempted to defect to sound."

Haishi's face to on a look of tired resignation.

"I see, troubling if not unexpected. How does that affect the matter at hand?"

"Due to outside circumstances the only chuuin available was Nara Shikamaru, he led a group of Gennin, including Naruto, to recover the traitor. At the time it looked like a kidnapping, it wasn't until Haruno Sakura came to me with information that he had left of his own free will and under escort that I realize exactly how much of a problem his retrieval could be. Though it necessitated pulling them away from other duties I sent Sabaku no Gaara and his Siblings after them, Followed some time later by Miterashi Anko and a squad of ANBU in response to the Youki flare we all felt."

"You sent the captured..."

"For the record they surrendered and were only under protective custody until they could be sent home. They were in fact helping with the rebuilding as a 'show of Suna's remorse at begin tricked in such a manner"

"Indeed, and why are you telling me..."

Haishi's question was silenced by Tsunade's glare.

"So that you'll understand why this information complicates things, now stop interrupting. When the ANBU squad reached the source of the flair they found the Body of Sasuke."

"So the traitor is dead."

"Let me finish." Tsunade Snapped "They also found an unconscious two tailed fox."

Tsunade was gratified to hear Haishi curse softly under his breath.

"As ordered they collected the bodies and brought them back. I have spent the last couple of days patching that retrieval squad back together and trying to decide what to do about the fox. As of two hours ago, the situation was complicated further by said fox morphing into a human body and insisting that he was in fact Uzumaki Naruto."

Haishi's eyebrows had climbed to his hairline and his mouth opened and closed silently for a few second before he manange to croak out a question.

"Do you believe him?"

Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temples.

"Kind of irrelevant isn't it? For the protection of Konoha I don't dare keep him around, But for the Protection of Konoha I don't dare dismiss him either. As little as I like the Idea I briefly considered having him executed but frankly that's not an option I can in good conscience exercise as regardless he seems to honestly believe himself to be Naruto. Now you bring me proof that he's the Son of this village's hero..."

Haishi absently rubbed a cheek as he considered the implications of it all.

"Blood test?"

Tsunade sighed.

"inconclusive. He tests mostly human, but he's either a Hanyu or he now has a bloodline."

Haishi waved dismissively

"We know he has one of those already, Did it shift to something new?"

Tsunade Froze.

"What did you just say?"

Haishi frowned at her slightly

"I asked if his bloodline shifted to something new."

Tsunade's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"New... there was nothing in his medical file to indicate and existing bloodline."

"Of course not!" Haishi replied in exasperation "Do you think we want to announce something like that before it's part of an established, proven, and most of all Viable clan? For all we know he's like your family, Yes there's a bloodline, but it's so damn unstable it could become anything! Like information on the Senju it's only available in his sealed documents."

Tsunade leaned forward to rub her temples.

"The sealed documents... How the hell did I forget about those."

When she opened her eyes again Tsunade had to frown at the slight upward curve of Haishi's mouth. From a man who had practiced emotional control most of his life, this little bit of a smile indicated a great deal more amusement than she liked. She couldn't help the small snort that escaped however when she realized that she of all people should have known to check there first for information on Konoha's jinchikurri.

"Alright, enough laughing at your boss. For my peace of mind would you care to tell me what his bloodline was?"

Haishi's small smile grew just a little bit, and his eyes seemed to warm slightly.

"Advanced healing of course. I don't know whether or not his level of regeneration would be passed along to his children, but his parents both had Very interesting bloodlines that were just beginning to manifest in their respective families, and the two seem to have fed off each other in regards to their son. I'm told that Minato-sama would have torn his body apart with the Harinshin if he did not, and Kushina would have died from her wounds when whirlpool fell. Regardless, having the Kyuubi sealed into the boy seems to have greatly improved his Innate ability to heal. You mentioned shape shifting however? He showed no signs of this before. There was a clan with some moderate shape changing abilities some years ago, but we lost the last of them about ten years before the Kyuubi's attack, and their genetic structure was incredibility amorphous."

Tsunade shook her head at this.

"Not that then, or at least not the same way. Naruto's genetic code is stable, just very, very odd."

"Indeed. Well then I suspect we will have to..."

Haishi didn't get a chance to finish however as he was interrupted by a pounding on the door. Tsunade's frown came back in full force, and Haishi's face returned to it's normal 'Blank slate' look.

"Enter."

Tsunade's voice was noticeably chilly, and there was enough passive Ki in the air to make the chuuin who had been knocking visibly swallow. However he had been well trained walking in quickly he bowed low.

"Please Forgive the interruption Tsunade-hime, but the council met in secret an hour and a half ago, and they have just issued a proclamation I doubt you'll approve of. Uzumaki Naruto has just been declared a non-entity."

Tsunade Froze. Shocked she whispered.

"What?"

"The council has just announced that the Uchiha was kidnapped, recovered, and is on the mend, and that there is no record of there ever having been a boy named Uzumaki Naruto born in this village."

Tsunade's rage lit the room with enough expressed chakra that from the outside the windows literally glowed, and the Ki was great enough that every ANBU in the village immediately dropped what they were doing and raced for the tower. Fearing attack. Inside Haishi and the chuuin had both hit their knees trying to catch a breath of air that wasn't saturated with foreign chakra.

"Ts.. Tsunade-hime" Gasped Haishi "Please control yourself."

And like someone had flipped a switch the chakra and Ki vanished as though they had never been, and a horrifyingly cold and Angry Hokage stood, studiously ignoring the concerned ANBU pouring in from every conceivable direction.

"I think it's time" She growled "That I had a word with the 'council'"

-An Hour Earlier-

Naruto sighed as he stared at the ceiling in the white room.

_'To dangerous yet' my ass. Old hag just likes torturing me._

Sighing again he turned toward the other wall, all four were the same blank, uninteresting white.

_I mean I suppose I can understand security and whatnot but really it's not like i'm..._

Naruto's train of thought derailed as he noticed something he hadn't before. One wall was not in fact the same blank white. At first glance he had thought it was, but now that he was staring at it harder it seemed to be giving off light independently of the ones in the ceiling.

_Odd. Why would it do that?_

Unconsciously Naruto channeled more chakra to his eyes, and on the other side of a one way mirror covered by a particularly potent genjutsu Kakashi and Jirayia were both treated to the sight of Naruto's eyes taking on a glow that had nothing to do with mischief, boredom, or anything that could be attributed to mere emotion. Acting on impulse Kakashi hit the switch that would slowly dim light to the room, and as they faded to half power it became readily apparent that his eyes did in fact give off a soft blue glow of their own.

"Jirayia, are you seeing..."

Jirayia stared dumbstruck as Naruto walked toward the clear steel that separated him from them, a small frown playing across his godson's face as he studied the wall. Tentatively touching it before splaying his hands across the surface.

"Drop the genjutsu."

Kakashi gave Jirayia a questioning look but complied, and the moment it fell Naruto jumped back in shock at suddenly being confronted by his own Visage. Through the speakers both men distinctly heard him mutter.

"that was strange..."

After a moment of studying his own face he cupped his hands to the wall as though trying to peer inside. Apparently however it didn't help as he went back to studying his own appearance again after a moment murmuring to himself.

"I swear that I saw a glow but... it vanishes and suddenly I see a mirror? Genjutsu? But which is real?"

_-Elsewhere-_

"Hinata? Hinaaataaa? HEY NEE-CHAN!"

Startled Hinata jump slightly and turned to face her pouting little sister Hanabi.

"Nee-chan! Pay attention to me!"

Hinata tried not to giggle. Her sister might be cold eyed and formal when fighting, but when they were alone Hanabi tended to revert almost immediately to the little girl she was.

"Sorry Hanabi, I was just... thinking."

"About that blonde kid?"

Hinata choked slightly on the water she had been drinking.

"Wha? Um... I don't know what you mean."

Hanabi snorted,

"Suuure you don't. You have no Idea what so ever who I'm talking about."

Hinata could feel her face heating up.

"I'm sure I don't"

"Then why have you tried to go see him every day since that big secret mission hmm?"

"I... Um... I was v...visiting Neji!"

Hanabi chuckled at little at the declaration.

"Your a horrible liar Hinata."

Hinata's cheeks flamed a bright scarlet red despite her best efforts to control it.

"W...where do you think f...father went?"

Hanabi tilted her head slightly to one side as though she was trying to decide whether or not to let the change of subjects go unchallenged. After a long (for Hinata anyway) couple of seconds she shrugged.

"Dunno, council business probably. At least he took the third that are firmly on his side with him."

It was a well kept secret within the family, that there were three factions of Hyuuga in Konoha, Haishi and his compatriots were a force of change within the family. They were mostly younger members that had stood behind Haishi when he first took control of the family and had tried to implement some rather sweeping changes immediately upon his ascension, Sadly they failed. The second faction was The council of elders. A group of traditional old men a number of whom had been around when the caged bird seal had first been applied, and uniformly, Main or Branch house, they felt it was for the best to keep on the way they were. The third branch simply didn't care one way or the other. So long as they had food clothing and shelter, they were content. Oddly enough there was roughly equal proportions of each of these factions, and as it required at least a two thirds majority to make sweeping changes Haishi's grand dreams had been reduced to just that. Dreams.

"I suppose we'll find out at supper toni..."

Hinata didn't have a chance to finish her sentence when a voice called out by the gate of the Hyuuga compound.

"Attention to all citizens of Konoha. A general assembly has been called by the council of elders. All shinobe not on missions are required to attend, all civilians are strongly recommended to. This gathering will take place in front of the Hokage's tower in approximately two hours, ten O-clock sharp. That is all."

Hinata and Hanabi shared a shocked look. The last general assembly called had been the ascension of the Hokage, and before that the last had been Saratobi's announcement that he was retaking his old position. General assembly was never called on a whim. There was news, and whatever it was, it was going to be big.

An hour and fifty minutes later found Hinata and Hanabi standing in a crowd, surrounded by many other people, including no small number of their cousins.

"People of Konaha. I fear today I am the bearer of bad news."

Immediately the crowd started murmuring, and Hanabi turned to to Hinata, her eyebrow's raised in suprise. It wasn't the Hokage addressing the crowd, but Danzo, the leader of the Advisors council. Tsunade and Haishi were noticeably missing, as were a number of the more moderate council members. A quick scan of the crowd showed the heads of the Nara, Akamichi, Yamanaka, Tenpai, and Karin clans standing in a knot toward the back and scowling at the group on the stage. Several others including Kakashi and Jirayia were missing all together

"Approximately a week ago Uchiha Sasuke Vanished."

The crowds murmurings increased

"It is believed that he has been kidnapped by the traitor Orochimaru in an attempt to steal the Sharingan."

The uproar that comment caused took several moments to calm down enough for Danzo to be heard again, but Hinata noticed immediately that most of the civilians seemed to be all in favor of storming Sound to retrieve him, several of the ones around her seemed to be considering doing it themselves if the Hokage wasn't going to.

"When this kidnapping was discovered several hours later a team was dispatched to help him fight free. This team was led by Nara Shikamaru and included several notable shinobi including Shibi's son Shino, Haishi's nephew Neji, and the infamous Uzumaki Naruto. The results of the their mission are still being considered by this council, but I can tell you that the uchiha was indeed recovered!"

Hinata frowned at this. Danzo made it sound like he personally ordered Sasuke's retrieval, the crowd however roared it's approval, and Danzo motioned genteelly, obviously accepting the praise for a job well done. Hinata noticed the scowls on the 'missing' councilors deepened.

"We are waiting on Tsunade,"

and at the lack of honorific Hinata noticed a handful of shinobi frown

"but I'm sure that with the world's best medic on the case he'll be up and about in no time."

_Refuse to give me any information at all will you, lets see you hide him now. _Thought Danzo as he waved magnanimously to the crowd.

"despite the entirety of the party fighting a number of high level sound nin I am pleased to say that Shikato's son was able to bring them all home!"

At this most eyes turned to the Nara, and he was forced to put on a sickly smile as he accepted praise he was sure his son wouldn't want.

"They are all recovering well... all except Uzumaki Naruto. He hasn't been seen since the mission when he purportedly ran off, supposedly in pursuit of more Sound ninja. At first it seemed to be on the up and up as he has shown himself to be a courageous if somewhat reckless asset in the past, but during a routine background check of the personnel involved it was found that there is no record of his birth."

The crowd's muttering turned uneasy, and though she tried, Hinata couldn't hear the conversations around her well enough to find out why. The flare of quickly suppressed anger from a number of the gathered shinobi was impossible to miss too, granted Hinata was a little to upset to notice.

_Did that bastard just imply that naruto-kun may have defected?_

"Therefore we are asking that anyone with any information on the boy, especially concerning his origins, please come forward to speak with one of the Anbu by the stage here after the gathering."

Hinata noticed distantly that the didn't recognize any of them,but was more concerned with trying to sort out what she knew. Something wasn't adding up, but she wasn't sure what it was.

_I know he's here, I've been trying to see him for the last couple of days... but... why would they keep us out... I know I'm not the only one who's tried to get in to see him..._

"Hinata! Hey! Hinata!"

Startled Hinata glanced around for a minute before she noticed Kiba making his way through the crowd toward her.

"Hey! You've seen him right? You did that cool eye trick and saw him in the room right?"

Hinata slowly shook her head 'no' and Kiba frowned. Hinata was fairly sure she wasn't supposed to have heard him mutter 'That makes three', but before she could ask Kiba was talking again.

"Listen. Shino says his bugs say he's not in the room they claim he is. Which match's up with what Akamaru tells me. Shino says he's somewhere in town though. His bugs can find Naruto, but they all come back confused and claiming his chakra has been slowly changing. They can't tell us how to get to him either. Apparently Ino went past his apartment yesterday and somebody trashed it. there's graffiti all over the place calling him a monster. But the place looks like it hasn't been visited in days."

"Um... did you notice that almost a third of the councilors weren't up on stage?"

Kiba frowned.

"I didn't at the time, but now that you say it, that is odd."

"I didn't notice Kakashi or Jirayia around either.. did you two?"

Kiba and Hinata both jumped at Ino's question, and hinata was shocked to find that she, Neji, chouji, and Shino had all shown up while she and Kiba had been talking.

"N...no I didn't. Did any of you?"

Neji appeared to be about to answer when the hokage's tower literally glowed and the six of them saw the nearby ANBU vanish, presumably in the direction of the massive chakra flare that accompanied the light

"What the hell..."

Hinata was about to reply when one of her aunts tugged her gently by the elbow.

"come Hinata-sama. We need to return home."

Hinata was ready to argue when she noticed that a collection of relatives and clansmen had shown up for each of the others as well. Nodding she turned to the rest.

"we can finish this talk tomorrow. Training ground seven. By the memorial stone. Three o-clock if you can make it."

her response was a round of nods and waves as the group headed toward their respective homes.

* * *

"Kiba... Kiba get up!"

Kiba rolled to his feet, kunai automatically coming to hand as the bucket of water his sister at thrown at him splashed across the bed he had vacated a second earlier. Blinking the sleep from his eyes he glared at her.

"great, now I have to sleep on a wet bed or the floor. Thanks."

Hana shook her head. How he could hear water flying though the air when she couldn't arouse him with a brass band was a complete mystery to her, but apparently years of her tossing cold water on him to wake him up had imparted him with an unusual skill.

"Anytime" she replied absently. "now get downstairs. Clan meeting."

Kiba glanced at the clock

"at three AM?"

"yup. Now get going"

grumbling, kiba complied, not realizing that similar meetings were taking place across the whole villiage.

"But father, that's highly illogical, how could those not have been the hokage's ANBU?"

Shibi looked at his son, and the resignation in his scent was unmistakable. Most people considered the abrume to be emotionless, but anyone with an advanced sense of smell could tell you that they were anything but.

"I don't know Shino, but a number of the other clan heads agreed that over a third of the ANBU at the meeting were unknowns. On top of that they all smelled of a chemical that kept our kaiki bugs from coming too close."

* * *

"Mind washed..? who and how?"

Inochi smiled slightly at his daughter's question. She might not act like it around her peers, but she had a sharp mind when she applied herself.

"I don't know. But the feel was the same as ROOT before they were disbanded."

* * *

"root?"

Haishi nodded to his nephew.

"a group of anbu trained under the direction of councilor Danzo, known for carrying out their mission no matter what the cost as well as strict emotional control. They are where I received my own training. Their methods are... harsh. The group was supposedly dissolved by Minato-Sama."

"I see. What do you want us to do."

"Be on the lookout for more of them. They tend to have blank eyes, and the one's we noticed were all quite pale, as though they have been inside for extended periods of time. The most obvious sign however is that unlike regular ANBU, the cloaking field used to hide their faces centers on a series of runes located at the forehead rather than the cheeks. This is observation only. None of you are to approach them, only observe. Something odd is going on, and I don't like it."

with one last glance around haishi stood, nodding to the various clansmen he took his leave signaling that they could go back to bed if they wanted. Hinata sat still, thinking and watching as most of her clansmen did just that. She wasn't the only one unsatisfied with what they had been told however, and from what she could hear she wasn't the only person who had noticed her fathers absence at the general assembly either. Shaking her head in frustration Hinata went back to her room, Something was definitely amiss, and she didn't like it at all.

* * *

Naruto sighed as he idly kicked his legs against the side of the bed he was sitting on. He was bored stiff, Slept out, and hungry. Even playing around with shapeshifting had lost it's appeal hours ago. Idly he looked around for the umpteenth time searching in vain for something to do. His discarded shirt sat crumpled in a corner, and he had torn a hole in the back of his pants for his tails when he shifted. The shirt had gotten uncomfortable however so he had discarded it all together. He couldn't help but perk up however when Jirayia stalked into the room literally radiating Chakra. Naruto grinned, his eyes taking on a slight glow as he unconsciously prepared for a fight. Jirayia briefly wondered at this before realizing what was going on and reigning himself in. Naruto pouted as the annoyance washed it's self from the Sannin's face. It took several seconds however for him to recognize what had just happened.

"Um Ero-sannin?"

"Gaki?"

Jirayia was studying him now, not quite sure was to make of his student-cum-Hanyu.

"Would you mind checking if any of Kyuubi's chakra is actively affecting me anymore?"

Jiraya frowned slightly but made the prerequisite hand seals lighting up Naruto's chakra pathway's with his own reflected chakra.

"Nope. Why do you ask?"

"Well..." Naruto trailed off unsure how to answer for a moment "When you came in here radiating like that, I got ready for a fight."

Seeing the quirked eyebrow on Jirayia's face he hastened to add.

"it wasn't a conscious action, and I was... well... I was looking forward to it to be honest."

Jirayia took a deep breath and let it out slowly, his eyes closed as he considered, finally coming to a conclusion he nodded sharply to himself before opening his eyes back up.

"You probably got a number of instincts from Kyuubi, this I suspect is just a heightening of your rather obvious love for a challenge."

Naruto nodded slowly.

"That... would make sense. It wasn't a 'fight to the death' kind of ready. More of a 'this will be fun' kind of feel"

Naruto's tails danced behind him in an almost catlike manner. One of them brushing the back of his neck caused him to whirl around quickly for nearly two full revolutions before realizing what it was that he had felt. Jirayia had gone suspiciously quiet at this and Naruto glared at him before adopting an air of wounded dignity.

"If your quite done laughing at me..."

Jirayia snickered, and Naruto arched one eyebrow imperiously at him before continuing

"...You can tell me what had you in such a funk."

Jirayia snorted in mirth again before growing serious.

"I think you and I are going to be leaving the village for a bit. Call it a 'training mission'."

Naruto kicked his legs again, finding their swinging a momentary distraction before turning back to his mentor.

"Cool. How long?"

Jirayia would have thought his student was taking things too lightly if he hadn't seen the spark of steel in Naruto's eye as he ask the question.

"Dunno. Couple months, couple years, who can really tell when it comes to sannin level training."

Naruto's eyes narrowed a bit, ignoring the obvious carrot Jirayia had tried hanging in front of him.

"A couple of... years... Hmmm... sounds a bit excessive. What will we be learning on the road that couldn't be learned here in Konoha?"

"Ah... well... that is..."

Jirayia sputtered for a few minutes he couldn't exactly teach his godson to tap Kyuubi's Youki anymore now could he..

_Too damn observant for your own good gaki._

"Nothing."

Said a new voice causing both of them to jump and turn glares on Tsunade who was leaning against the door frame, a slight scowl on her face as she finished.

"And everything."

Jirayia scowled.

"So they..."

"Yes"

Jirayia sucked in a breath

"Even..."

"Not yet."

"But they could?"

Tsunade's frown deepened

"Perhaps."

Jirayia's breath came out as a deep hiss.

"I see."

"Hello! Some of us don't speak fill-in-the-blank here! What the hell is going on?"

-End Chapter5-


	6. Loss and a Moment

Chapter 6

_**Previously on 'Return of the Lost':**_

_"So they..."_

_"Yes"_

_Jirayia sucked in a breath_

_"Even..."_

_"Not yet."_

_"But they could?"_

_Tsunade's frown deepened_

_"Perhaps."_

_Jirayia's breath came out as a deep hiss._

"_I see."_

"_Hello! Some of us don't speak fill-in-the-blank here! What the hell is going on?"_

* * *

"Nothing Gaki."

Naruto glared at both of them for a moment, and Tsunade rolled her eyes

"Fine, Yes, something is going on. Yes It's fairly serious, and frankly, I need you out of town for a while."

"But..."

Jirayia sighed and rubbed his eyes

"Throw for it?"

"Not a chance perv, he's your..."

Tsunade cut off for a moment and eyed the curious Naruto as Jirayia shook his head slightly.

"... Student now."

Naruto snorted in annoyance as she obviously changed what she was about to say.

"I don't like this. You two are keeping something big from me, and I get the feeling your both worried about how I might take the news."

Jirayia sighed again.

"It involves not something I'm particularly proud of and... Ah hell. Gaki, I'm your godfather."

* * *

It was several hours later that Naruto finally came back to himself. Jirayia had of course apologized for the terrible job he'd done in... well... pretty much all aspects of his job. Naruto had of course grinned and waved it off. Jirayia had obviously not believed a word of it when he claimed it was 'fine', but didn't press the issue. After assuring Naruto that he'd be more than happy to answer any questions, he'd bowed out for the night. Tsunade had stayed a little longer. She'd given him a hug (fourth person in his life to do so) and asked if he wanted to talk about any of it. He'd turned her down at the time and she'd echoed Jirayia's sentiment that if he felt the need to talk she was there for him. That was six hours ago.

_I'm BOOOOORED_

_**Me too.**_

Startled Naruto leaped to his feet

"DON'T DO THAT!"

The Shinigami however just grinned at him

"**I see you made it back to your proper body... more or less"**

"More or... oh! Right..."

Naruto closed his eyes for a few seconds and concentrated and the tails and ears he'd left out vanished as though they'd never been. The Shinigami nodded at that.

"**Excellent. I do apologize for leaving you in a bind like that but I was in a bit of a rush. I'd hoped to have the fox caught before we had this discussion, but that bastard's managed to give me the slip again, so it seems I'm actually going to have to..."**

The death god trailed off and mumbled the last bit as though hoping Naruto wouldn't hear it.

"I'm sorry, what?"

The Shinigami sighed

"**I owe you one. Just a little favor though. No immortality, no invincibility. Think of it as getting one wish instead of three..."**

Naruto grinned and opened his mouth to respond, but the death god caught his look and quickly added

"**And no wishing for more wishes. Doesn't work that way."**

Naruto's grin widened a fraction and snapped his fingers before replying.

"Well... What I'd really like is to get out of here."

The Shinigami blinked at that.

"**No money, no fame, no beautiful women finding you irresistible... nothing like that?"**

Naruto shrugged pragmatically

"All I really want is for you to open that door for me at the moment."

The death god sighed.

"**Too simple... um..." **He thought for a few seconds before snapping his fingers. **"Got it. I'm cranking your luck up by an order of magnitude or so. The fox made you lucky in combat. I'll make you lucky in pretty much everything else. Not enough to win every hand or throw of the dice or anything like that, but you'll rarely walk away from a game of chance down money. Plus I'll let you keep your clothes and whatnot when you change!"**

Naruto shrugged again, and the Shinigami sighed.

"**And I'll open the door for you."**

Naruto just grinned.

* * *

Twenty Minutes later he was running through the town at an easy lope,

_You know, this fox body is certainly nice for running around in._

Naruto smiled at the black mirror image running next to him

**As you said before Brat, it has some advantages and some disadvantages. At some point, you should try to learn how to speak your native language in this body though.**

_I suppose that you're right. It'd be nice to be able to properly communicate regardless of what I look like._

**So, where are we headed Brat?**

_I'm headed home at the moment. I can get some clothes, and then go back and talk to Onee-chan._

**You respect that old women don't you.**

Naruto stopped running for a moment.

_Yes, I suppose that I do._

After a few moments thought, Naruto once again started running for his home.

* * *

As a somewhat interesting side note, Foxes had once been considered a good luck charm in Konoha. In fact, the Karin family had once had a relationship with foxes similar to the one the Nara's did towards deer. Not quite as involved as the Inzuka and their dogs, or the Abrume toward their bugs, but it was once a certified affinity. After the Kyuubi attack however, that had all changed. Although foxes weren't actively hunted, if a person were to find a fox they were supposed to chase it out of town. In fact many of the villagers had picked up highly intelligent tracking dogs and trained them to hunt down foxes. That particular sect of fox had all stood against the Kyuubi however, and most of them were destroyed. The few that weren't were run out of town, had left for good of their own violation.

* * *

Naruto was quite proud when made it all the way back to his apartment without more than a circumspect look in his direction. When he got there however he was shocked to find a burning pile of orange rags in one of the dumpsters. Suspicious, Naruto didn't waste a minute but ran upstairs just in time to hear his former land-lady explaining to a new couple about how she had evicted an unwanted roomer. Now Naruto was a rather 'slow to Anger' personality, but some things simply went beyond the pale.

"What exactly are you doing?"

All three of them gave a start and whirled around to stare at Naruto. The land-lady glared at him.

"Back are you? I thought we'd finally gotten rid of you for good. Well you can just go back to whatever hole you were hiding in you little bastard. As of noon today, you're evicted."

"Indeed?"

There was something dangerous in his voice, something dangerous in his stance. The Landlady had expected outrage, Shouting, Possibly cursing, and she was prepared to give as good as she took. She hadn't expected quiet malice however. As Naruto ghosted up the last couple of steps and into the hallway the blood drained from her face. For just the slightest fraction of a second she could have sworn she'd seen fox ears on his head, and a number of tails twisting out behind him, but it was only a momentary impression, and then it was gone again.

"Then you have it in writing of course."

The landlady shook herself and thrust a stack of papers at him

"It's all there, nice and legal. Get out and good riddance."

Naruto ignored her and read through the eviction notice. It was indeed legal, and he nearly groaned in frustration. Angrily he muttered under his breath about having finally beaten the fox and this being his gratitude before he forced himself to calm down. Of course he hadn't known that the new couple had been close enough to hear his mutterings, low as they were.

"Well, I'll just get my things and go then. Legally speaking I have until this time next week."

The landlady shifted uneasily

"No. I refuse you access. Get out."

"You have no right to hold my things. I'll gather them and be gone you won't even have to wait the week."

"Your... your week is up already. The notice was left on your door eight days ago."

Naruto raised an eyebrow

"It's Dated yesterday."

The landlady refused to meet his eyes.

"I said get out!"

His suspicions confirmed Naruto pushed past the woman ignoring her indignant squawk and opened the door to his apartment. It was empty. A quick glance showed his bedroom in a similar state, and remembering the rags in the dumpster below he quickly made his way to the window. Looking down into the dumpster placed below he felt his legs going weak. His furniture was already burnt, his clothing just now burning it's self out. His pictures, blankets, all his personal effects; long since gone to ash, trembling he turned around. His landlady was standing in the entry of the bedroom, her grin Malicious and deeply disturbing.

"Serves you right you fucking monster."

Naruto Snapped. In the space of the time it took to blink he had crossed the room, clawed hands pinning hers to the wall and digging into the mortar behind to lock them in place. His eyes, though still blue, were stormy and slit like a fox, and his chakra was a solid blue cloak wrapped around him, giving him the appearance of four tailed fox.

"This is how you repay me! I keep the beast in check! I protect this village! I try So! Damn! Hard! to be helpful and cheerful, and you spit on my sacrifice. You spit on the Sacrifice of the fourth. You!... You!.."

Naruto closed his eyes, and slowly let out an angry breath. As he did, like the flicker of a flame's tongue his cloak went out and his eyes softened back to their normal shape. The killer intent that had paralyzed the woman so completely slowly faded though it didn't vanish completely.

"You stupid, ignorant hateful fool. I loath you for what you've done, but I understand why you did it."

Turning he released the woman who immediately slumped bonelessly to the floor, Her eyes following him in shock as he walked to where his bed had been and effortlessly pulled up the floorboard. It was empty of course. The landlady had long known about his supposedly secret stash. Sighing Naruto closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall.

"You had to burn my pictures didn't you."

"I... I..."

The landlady was at a loss. In all the years Naruto had live under her roof he had never before seemed so old, So sad, So completely despondently human.

"She missed one."

Naruto's head snapped up. It was the woman who had been talking with the landlady outside the apartment. She was holding a wooden frame in her hand Naruto staggered over to her, and though her hand shook a little she didn't shy back as Naruto gently took the picture from her. The glass was Cracked, but the rest of it seem to be fine, and Naruto couldn't help the wetness in his eyes as he brushed his fingers lightly over the smiling image of himself and the third Hokage.

"Thank you."

Naruto's voice was quiet, but laced with enough emotion that the man pulled the woman into a tight hug. Turning Naruto walked out. Just as he made it to the door however he heard his landlady's voice. Almost too soft to understand behind him.

"I've made a terrible mistake. I'm sorry. Please stay? I'll make this right again."

Naruto turned his head just enough to see her out of the corner of his eye.

"There's nothing left for me here, and no way to make this right."

He shook his head a little and sighed

"Goodbye."

and like all good Shinobi, he vanished.

* * *

_Well_

**Yes Brat?**

_It appears that my luck lasted to long. Once again I'm stuck._

**and you want my advice?**

_I'll take anyone's advice at the moment._

**Then my advice is to go talk to that old woman. I personally have no Idea how to deal with you humans.**

Naruto once again in fox form shook his head.

_So much for divine intervention._

**Meh. Having us screw with your lives is generally a poor Idea anyway. We've got too many limitations on what we can and can't do. **

Sighing Naruto curled up on the crook of the tree he had climbed

_Sounds good on paper though_

The Shinigami sounded almost wistful as it replied

**Most things do.**

* * *

"Naruto-kun"

The name was almost a whisper, but Naruto, who had been sleeping in the tree, came almost instantly awake. Peering carefully over the side of the branch he was shocked to see Hinata sitting below him, her knees drawn up to her chest and a picture of him in her hands in front of her,

"Where are you? What happened that's got so many people trying to find you?"

Had his lips had the muscles necessary, Naruto would have frowned

_The hell?_

"Father says you've been injured and that I must be patient, that I'm sure to see you in time, but it's been so long since anyone's seen you, and Tsunade-Sama was so very angry at what the council's done. What's happened to you? I always knew you were something special, why has it taken so long for others to see it to? And if there's no record of your birth, then who are you?"

Now that was a bit of a surprise, and Naruto leaned a little further over. That was a mistake however, gripping the bark with his claws he knocked a small piece of it free. Had he not been a ninja there would have been no way to catch the movement. In less than a heartbeat the picture was gone, and Hinata was on her feet, her bloodline activating almost on instinct.

_FUCK!_

Surprised himself, Naruto scrambled back until he was stopped by the trunk of the tree. Hinata however relaxed almost as quickly as she had moved once she realized there was no particular danger.

"Oh, hello there little fox. You startled me!"

Hinata's smile was like sunshine, and almost against his will Naruto found himself easing forward on the branch a bit.

"Aren't you a pretty thing? Come on, I won't hurt you."

Naruto edged a little closer, unconsciously perking his ears up as Hinata pulled a small sandwich out and then removed a piece of meat from it.

"Here, have some breakfast."

As she offered it forward Naruto mentally grinned and then snuck forward just far enough to snatch it out of her hand before darting back again. Hinata seemed a little surprised that he had warmed up to her so fast, but didn't comment on it, instead setting another piece on the low branch and waiting. Naruto of course hadn't eaten more than hospital goop in a week or so and eyed the new piece of bait even as he finished eating the last one.

_On one hand, I'm a fox at the moment. On the other, it's Hinata-chan. Most of the village hates foxes... Hinata doesn't seem to. Of course, most of the town doesn't' care much for me either..._

Naruto contemplated his dilemma for a bit longer, and in the end decided that it was Hinata, and she didn't strike him as someone likely to hunt animals just for the fun of it. Mind made up, Naruto trotted forward to where the bait sat, and calmly sat down and began eating it.

Hinata's laughter at this bold move was well worth being seen as just another animal, and the smile lit her face with an inner radiance that very few people could achieve.

"Aren't you the smart one?"

_Why yes, yes I am... is that... Ramen? I smell on you?_

Hinata suppressed a giggle as the fox carefully leaned in to sniff her extended hand, and soon after began licking at the spot of Ramen Broth she had spilled on her sleeve earlier. It darted back rather quickly when she had reached out to try petting it however, and she pouted a little bit though the twinkle in her eye tipped Naruto off that she wasn't really upset.

"So I can feed you and we're best friends, but if I try to touch you then you don't know me hmm?"

Naruto was startled enough to laugh out loud, and shocked himself right out of it when it came out as a sneeze instead. Hinata's musical laughter came back again at the look of confusion on his face after the sneeze, and the wounded dignity he managed to display when she did so was more than enough to prove to her that he was far above average intelligence for a fox. After a moment she settled on an easy smile.

"I'm sorry for laughing. Are you looking for someone?"

_Well... yes actually, now that you mention it I should probably get back to Ero-Sennin and Baa-chan. The death god was right, they're my best resources right now._

Even with how intelligent she had expected the fox was, Hinata certainly hadn't expected it's ears to stand up and for it to look in the direction of the Hokage tower.

"You need to get to the tower? Are you a messenger then?"

_Well... not exactly..._

Hinata blushed slightly as the foxes gaze shifted from her to the tower several times as though trying to decide what to do.

"I... I c...could go with you!"

She had no Idea why she'd offered, but now that it's gaze was quite firmly on her she rushed her explanation so it didn't dismiss her out of hand.

"F... fox aren't the most liked creatures In Konoha right now. W... we were attacked by Kyuubi a number of years ago you see."

Naruto snorted and after a moment climbed down the tree. Warily keeping out of her reach, but certainly staying close enough that it was obvious he was escorting her. Or... she was escorting him? After a moment's contemplation Hinata decided that it didn't much matter which was which and started walking toward the tower, the fox trotting along at her heel. They would probably have made it utterly without incident had it not been for Akamaru.

"_Hey! Hey! Hey! Mine! Hey! Back off!"_

Naruto jumped nearly a full foot in the air as the small puppy startled him, and as instinct took over he promptly climbed the nearest accessible object too keep out of the small dog's reach.

"_Hey! Hey! No fair Man! Mine! Mine! I got dibs!"_

Naruto looked down from his perch and snorted at the excitable puppy

"_Not for the moment she isn't. I need to get to the Hokage's tower and she's helping me."_

Hinata was frozen stiff for a moment. One second she had been walking alongside a timid new friend, and the next moment she had something warm and furry peering down from it's new perch on her shoulder at the excitable Puppy jumping around at her feet.

"_Hey! Hey! That's not fair! I Had dibs! Hey man! I'm telling the Master! You'll be sorry then!"_

Naruto of course just snorted at the excitable puppy again as Akamaru ran off into the crowd. It was only then that he realized he'd used Hinata as a tree, and quickly climbed back down. Hinata meanwhile had managed to get over her shock. She couldn't understand what they had said of course but her new friend managed to convey embarrassment as he returned to the ground.

"Don't worry about it."

Naruto's ears perked up at the ready forgiveness

"I'm glad you like me enough to consider me 'safe' I suppose"

_Sorry Hina-chan._

Hinata nodded as though she could hear his apology

"Now, we'd better get moving if you want to get to the tower before Akamaru gets back with Kiba."

In fact, they almost did make it. They were only a couple yards away when Hinata heard Akamaru yipping again, and as she turned to see where Kiba was, Naruto used the moment to slip away.

"_Hey! Hey! Come back here! You can't run away like that! I caught you fair and square!"_

Hearing what his companion said, Kiba quickly set the puppy back down, but it was already too late as Naruto slipped into the Hokage's tower through an open door and for all intents and purposes, Vanished.

* * *

"You left the door open."

Jirayia's Voice was flat, and his tone cold. Tsunade however matched him Glare for Glare.

"YOU Didn't seal the room properly. The door is supposed to seal automatically after someone walks through it."

"I Didn't? I Didn't? It does! But only of the Sealing Array is Completely..."

"Whatcha fighting about now?"

Both Tsunade and Jirayia turned and Glared at the new comer

"Just a minute Naruto, Naruto has es..."

Jirayia paused and blinked.

"Well you came back at least."

Naruto rolled his eyes as both of the Sannin relaxed a little.

"So you offered to answer questions right? What did Hinata mean when she said there's no record of my birth?"

* * *

Hinata fidgeted nervously as she waited for her turn to speak to the Hokage. She knew she was probably going to get in trouble, but on reflection she knew that she had no choice but to tell the Hokage about the fox she'd found earlier. She'd helped it into the heart of their city after all with nothing but a vague sense of 'It means us no harm' as a reason for not capturing an obviously more intelligent than usual animal. For all she knew it could have been an enemy summons sent on a recon mission!

"Tsunade-Hime will see you now."

Hinata Jumped and the receptionist smiled in sympathy at her blush.

"Th... Thank you."

"So, what's so urgent that the Heir of the Hyuuga clan would request to speak to me about a potential code 3."

"Um... sorry, but you see..."

* * *

Naruto sat on a rooftop and contemplated the city, kicking his legs idly as he did so, and drawing some odd looks from the civilians that passed below him. The Shinobi mostly ignored him as Tsunade had spread the word that he was on village arrest for the moment until the councils concerns could be answered. Idly Naruto contemplated his new room in the Hokage mansion... and the weird looks the ANBU had been giving him lately. Unconsciously Naruto channeled chakra to his ears as he heard the ANBU Begin talking behind him.

"..'re right, He does look like a little chibi version of the Y... OUCH! What was that for?"

"Not out here idiot. There's no telling how the civvies would take that kind of news, especially since Danzo was a big enough moron to announce that..."

As Naruto's attention waned he contemplated the latest gossip. Apparently his lineage had become a hot topic since the council made public the knowledge that his birth certificate 'Couldn't be found.' The reality was that old man Saratobi as sealed it away long ago and hadn't bothered having a fake made declaring him an unknown orphan. A simple oversight, but it had Jirayia and Tsunade debating something ferociously behind closed and silenced doors

* * *

Itachi stared at the note in his hands. He had long since memorized it, and was feeling quite conflicted about it. Sasuke was dead. He knew he should feel terrible about it. The one person he had purposely spared, the only reason Madara had gotten a hold over him, was gone. But instead he felt... Numb. Disconnected maybe. and they had figured out a way to bring him in. Tsunade, Bless her soul, had actually found a way to spin the death of his family to paint him in a sympathetic light. After nearly Seven years on the run, he could come back. See his friends, Maybe teach a Gennin team... He had always wanted to teach. Maybe helping the next generation would wash some of the blood from his hands. Or he could continue his current course. Stay a spy, living with people he hated, and who would kill him in a heartbeat if he showed a moments weakness...

It was no decision really. Looking around he tried to decide if there was anything he would really miss. Shrugging, he scribbled a note, changed into some civilian clothes, and after a moments hesitation, picked up his Akatsuki hat and made his way to, and out the door. Several hours later, it would be Kisame who would find the note, and it would be several hours after that before Pein and Madara would find out that they were down two Members and a Biju. Itachi's Note was simple. He informed them that his sources indicated the Kyuubi had escaped it's container, leaving behind a portion of it's power, and that he felt he had personally failed the organization, and that he resigned. He had left his ring, and they had no permanent base, so the inconvenience of it all was really minor at worst. All he had taken was his hat. Kisame's note was shorter. 'Gone to try and find the Kyuubi. Will return if it's still worthwhile.' His leaving was slightly more problematic, but until they could find the truth of the situation, neither of them were to be specifically hunted.

All in all, it was a bad day for Akatsuki.

* * *

A/N:

As you've no doubt noticed I am indeed still working on this, and as you've no doubt thought at least once, I'm sure taking my sweet damn time on it. Well... You're Right. I've recently come to the conclusion that I can't write the same story twice. Trying to keep the same feel and pacing was bogging me down, and frankly the original storyline is something I'm no longer interested in writing (See the original if you want to know, I've laid it all out there.) As such you can expect a gradually increasing difference between the story line. It's still a 'As the mood strikes me' story, but I'm not going to restrict myself to the original anymore (though no doubt bits and pieces of it will find their way in)

All my best,

Manatheron

PS. The name may also change, Any suggestions?


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